Overview

The story of the final battle of the First Crusade The most extraordinary siege in medieval history began with the arrival of a Christian army at Jerusalem on the dawn of Tuesday, 6 June, 1099. Other sieges may have lasted longer, involved greater numbers of troops, and deployed more siege engines but nothing else in the entire medieval period compares to the extraordinary journey that the besiegers had made to get to their goal and the heady religious enthusiasm among the troops. This was the culmination of the First crusade, a military pilgrimage that had seen hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children leave their homes in Western Europe, march for three years over thousands of miles, and undergo tremendous hardship to reach their longed-for goal: Jerusalem. No other medieval army had made such a journey and no other army had such a peculiar makeup. There were hundreds of unattached poor women, gathered from the margins of Northern French towns by the charity of the charismatic preacher, Peter the hermit, and given a new direction in their lives through the expedition to Jerusalem. There were farmers who had sold their land and homes, put all their belongings in two-wheeled carts, and marched alongside their oxen. Bards came and earned their keep by composing songs about the events they were witnessing, from songs about the heroic charges of the nobles to bawdy satires on the lax behavior of some of the senior clergy. Naturally, knights and foot soldiers were at the heart of the fighting forces, but even here there was a strange fluidity to the army, with the status of a warrior rising or falling depending on his ability to keep his horse alive and his armor in good order. The Siege of Jerusalem offers a vivid and engaging account of the events of that siege; the key figures, the turning points, the spiritual beliefs of the participants, the deep political rivalries, and the massacre of the inhabitants, which left such a deep scar in the horrified imagination of those who learned about it, that it still evokes passionate feelings nearly a thousand years later.

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9781847252319

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Reviews

An engaging story of sacrifice, endeavour, brutality and fanaticism, one that sears itself into the imagination and reveals a terrible impact on the medieval world - Good Book Guide Military history is prominent and the account of the capture of Jerusalem itself is excellent ... In short, this is a successful blend of a narrative underpinned by academic research and is a genuinely engaging read - Jonathan Phillips, BBC History Magazine Well-researched, reliable, and, most importantly of all, even-handed ... elegant, uncluttered narrative ... brimful of fascinating facts, it makes siege warfare sound interesting (no easy feat) ... a triumph - Catholic Herald 'An engaging story of sacrifice, endeavour, brutality and fanaticism, one that sears itself into the imagination and reveals a terrible impact on the medieval world.' - Good Book Guide 'Military history is prominent and the account of the capture of Jerusalem itself is excellent ... In short, this is a successful blend of a narrative underpinned by academic research and is a genuinely engaging read.' - Jonathan Phillips, BBC History Magazine 'Well-researched, reliable, and, most importantly of all, even-handed ... elegant, uncluttered narrative ... brimful of fascinating facts, it makes siege warfare sound interesting (no easy feat) ... a triumph.' - Catholic Herald This lively and well-written account of the crusader conquest of Jerusalem makes enjoyable reading. It is based on sound scholarship and, while primarily aimed at the non-specialist, it also gives guidance to those who would like to know more about the historical sources - Bernard Hamilton

'Military history is prominent and the account of the capture of Jerusalem itself is excellent ... In short, this is a successful blend of a narrative underpinned by academic research and is a genuinely engaging read.' - Jonathan Phillips, BBC History Magazine

Author Information

Dr Conor Kostick holds a gold medal in history from Trinity College Dublin and is an award-winning author of both fiction and non-fiction. He teaches on the crusades at Trinity College, where he currently holds a post-doctoral fellowship from the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences.

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